Chris Stevens, the slain American ambassador to Libya, feared he was on an al Qaeda hit list days before he was killed, according to a controversial CNN report based on his personal journal.

A senior adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton blasted the network, saying it broke a pledge to Stevens’ family by using material from the journal, which it said it found in an unsecured section of the US Consulate in Benghazi three days after the Sept. 11 violence.

The report — which did not include direct quotes from the personal material — said the veteran diplomat also worried about increasing extremism in Libya.

State Department adviser Philippe Reines said CNN’s use of the information in Stevens’ journal on “Anderson Cooper 360’’ broke a promise to Stevens’ relatives.

Reines described CNN’s behavior as “disgusting” and “indefensible.”

“Whose first instinct is to remove from a crime scene the diary of a man killed along with three other Americans serving our country, read it, transcribe it, e-mail it around your newsroom for others to read, and only when their curiosity is fully satisfied thinks to call the family or notify the authorities?” he asked.

“They just went ahead and used it. Entirely because they felt like it. Anderson Cooper didn’t even bother to offer any explanation as to why the network broke its promise to the family,” Reines said.

But CNN said the journal provided “newsworthy tips” that it independently confirmed in its report that Stevens worried about a rise in Islamic extremism, the growing al Qaeda presence in Libya and being on its hit list.

The broadcast came as the Obama administration was sending mixed messages over whether the violence was a planned terrorist attack or a spontaneous act of violence prompted by the anti-Islamic video “Innocence of Muslims.’’

Clinton last week said she had “no information” to make her believe Stevens was on a hit list, which was echoed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

“Public officials are seen as having less of a right to privacy as ordinary citizens, but I can’t imagine anything more private than a personal diary never meant for publication,” said Howard Good, a journalism professor at SUNY New Paltz. “If CNN had multiple sources, why didn’t they just send the diary over?”